Diabetic vegan diet

There is no specific vegetarian diet for vegans and vegetarians.. So, I'm just collecting some information here about vegan & vegetarian foods and type 2 diabetes.. I can and I hope I'm sharing which may benefit you here..

Not: You should ask your dietitian before switching to vegetarianism and veganism..

Diabetic Vegan Diet

Based on the evidence that the incidence of diabetes is lower in vegetarians, some studies have investigated vegan interventions.

These studies have shown that a vegan diet may be effective in managing type 2 diabetes.

Some of the protection that vegetarian diets provide may come from the diet's protection against obesity.

The exchange nutritional system

What is the exchange system?

The exchange system is the system that allowed people to swap foods of similar nutritional value (e.g. carbohydrate) for another, so, for example, if wishing to have more than normal carbohydrates for dessert, one could cut back on potatoes in one's first course.

What about the exchange system in the vegan meals?

The vegan meals were made from unrefined vegetables, grains, beans, and fruits, with no refined ingredients, such as vegetable oil, white flour, or white pasta. These meals averaged just 10 percent fat (as a percentage of calories) and 80 percent complex carbohydrate. They also offered 60-70 grams of fiber per day and had no cholesterol at all.

The comparison (ADA) diet contained somewhat more plant-based ingredients than the average American diet, but still relied on the conventional chicken and fish recipes. This diet was 30 percent fat and 50 percent carbohydrate. It provided about 30 grams of fiber and 200 milligrams of cholesterol per day.

Participants in both groups came to the University two evenings per week for group sessions covering nutrition, cooking, and support.

There were several challenges in planning the study. Would persons with diabetes—and their partners—volunteer for the study? Would they change their eating habits and maintain the study program for the full three months? Could we find caterers who would dependably prepare and deliver attractive vegan and ADA meals?

How Does the System Work?

The exchange system groups similar kinds of foods into various exchange lists—for instance, there's a fruit list, a vegetable list, a starch list, and others. Portion sizes are specified for each food. You should be able to "exchange" any food on a list for another food on the same list, because they are designed to have the same amount of calories, carbs, fat, and so on.

The starch list, for example, includes bread, tortillas, pasta, rice and starchy vegetables like potatoes. Each serving provides approximately the same nutrients, and they are all interchangeable in your meal plan.

Your meal plan tells you how many servings from specific lists you can have at each meal. Meeting with a registered dietitian is the best way to help you individualize the plan and to determine the calorie count and distribution of meals that are right for you.

If you've been frightened by expectations of a diet that tells you what you can't eat, you'll be delighted to discover that new, popular options are available on today's exchange lists. This versatility, while not all-inclusive, provides plenty of choices and will help you adhere to the plan.

Those who don't know the difference between a carb and a calorie soon learn. The exchange system shows that carbohydrates, which raise blood glucose, come in a variety of packages. This system, which helps to build a balanced meal plan, has optimal nutrition built into it. Following your plan is a living experiment that takes nutrition out of the textbook and puts it on the table.

Diabetes is not necessarily a one-way street. Early studies suggest that persons with type 2 diabetes can improve and, in some cases, even reverse the disease by switching to an unrefined, vegan diet. Unfortunately, none of these studies included a comparison group. So the Diabetes Action and Research Education Foundation provided a grant to PCRM to perform a carefully controlled test.

Working with Georgetown University, we compared two different diets: a high-fiber, low-fat, vegan diet and the more commonly used American Diabetes Association (ADA) diet. We invited persons with non-insulin-dependent diabetes and their spouses or partners to follow one of the two diets for three months. Caterers prepared take-home lunches and dinners, so participants could simply heat up the food at home.

The vegan meals were made from unrefined vegetables, grains, beans, and fruits, with no refined ingredients, such as vegetable oil, white flour, or white pasta. These meals averaged just 10 percent fat (as a percentage of calories) and 80 percent complex carbohydrate. They also offered 60-70 grams of fiber per day and had no cholesterol at all.

The comparison (ADA) diet contained somewhat more plant-based ingredients than the average American diet, but still relied on the conventional chicken and fish recipes. This diet was 30 percent fat and 50 percent carbohydrate. It provided about 30 grams of fiber and 200 milligrams of cholesterol per day.

Participants in both groups came to the University two evenings per week for group sessions covering nutrition, cooking, and support.

There were several challenges in planning the study. Would persons with diabetes—and their partners—volunteer for the study? Would they change their eating habits and maintain the study program for the full three months? Could we find caterers who would dependably prepare and deliver attractive vegan and ADA meals?

Here's a quote fromVegetarian Resource Group: "If you are looking for information regarding vegetarianism and diabeties, there is an article in the Winter 1999 issue of Vegetarian Dietetics, 'Can Type 2 Diabetes Be Managed Effectively with a Vegetarian Diet,'

i sincerely doubt it that u are being truthful as there is nothing in meat that is not in vegeterian diet that would make ur a1c go up like that.....and regarding phosphate and stuff go to a dialysis center and they will tell u to lay off that animal protein, maybe that will be helpful to you in the future....

i specifically asked him and am asking you too to name any ingredient in vegetarian diet that would make your a1c go up like that. now don't be stupid enough to bring up junk food and processed shit like that, heard that before

Firstly, I have never claimed that one cannot get the nutrition they need from a vegan diet - although doing so often requires supplements.

Secondly, even the article you've provided admits, "The most important thing to be aware of regarding protein in vegan diets is that you need to get enough of the amino acid lysine." Histidine and vitamin B12 are very often a concern as well.

The point I've been making (or trying to make) is that it takes much more sophisticated nutritional knowledge as well as discipline to maintain balanced nutrition on a vegan regime. This is particularly problematic for type 2 diabetics who are very often diabetic specifically due to a lack of nutritional knowledge and discipline.

Such a diet can be adjusted for people of over 140 lbs, so I'm not sure why you see that as a problem.

Heather read the whole article than just the headlines because if you would have done that you would have known all the sources lysine. And regarding b12 and histidine we already covered it up in a discussion under the headline " carnism" on this website. It does not take any nutritional knowledge or discipline that you keep insisting, but hey I might be generalizing as western college grads are dumber than uneducated vegetarians that I have seen in India regarding nutrition.

another reason why i was asking you to tell the truth is because the foods you listed in the begining of your comment are foods you should be eating as a diabetic and not avoiding. here is a link for you to look at their glycemic index.